2016 AUA EARLY CAREER INVESTIGATORS WORKSHOP CONFERENCE PLAN The 2016 American Urological Association (AUA) Early Investigators Workshop will be held August 25-27, 2016 at the headquarters of the American Urological Association (AUA) in Linthicum, Maryland, near the Thurgood Marshall - BWI Airport. The meeting is intended to provide intense and personalized instruction for a small group of 35 MD and PhD new investigators on how to prepare innovative and competitive research grant applications, primarily to the NIH. The program is specifically designed to allow 1-on-1 and small group instruction that will be provided by senior scientists and other advisors and will be customized to best fit the needs of the individual applicant, and the range of proposed research applications that will be presented at the meeting. This meeting will provide a catalyst to increase the quality of research grant proposals submitted to the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). It is estimated that 20 of the attendees will work in areas associated with non- cancer urology research, four in research associated with pediatrics, and four in aging research. The remaining seven attendees we estimate will be investigators in urologic oncology. The workshop continues the long-range strategic vision of the AUA to provide a series of workshops that will be devoted to grant writing, career development and developing an integrated community of urologic investigators to support interdisciplinary research. It is designed to complement the Grantwriting Workshop that is held each year during the AUA Annual Meeting. The primary investigator, Carolyn Best, PhD, is the Director of Research for the AUA. The Steering Committee consists of leaders in urologic research, some of whom are Primary Investigators on NIDDK Multidisciplinary K12 Urologic Research (KURe) Career Development Programs: Aria Olumi, MD (Chair); Cindy Amundsen, MD; Peter Clark, MD, Toby Chai, MD; Firouz Daneshgari, MD; Dolores Lamb, PhD; Wade Bushman, MD, PhD; Laurence Baskin, MD; and Erika Wolff, PhD. All committee members and meeting faculty possess exemplary records in extramural research funding and training of residents and pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellows. The Early Career Investigators Workshop will take place over 2 days. A key session of the meeting will take place on day two when the faculty advisors will meet individually with each of the participants and conduct critical evaluations of their grant proposals. The team of advisors that will meet with each attendee will be customized based on the scientific area, specific aims and methodologies of the proposed research. In addition to a senior scientific advisor, a pathologist, epidemiologist, biostatistician or other individuals from additional specialized areas as needed may assist in the evaluation to provide critiques and instruction that will guide the invitees as they work to improve the proposal over the duration of the workshop. Saturday afternoon?s program will primarily consist of a working session where the invitees can work independently or meet with faculty advisors as needed. The program will include keynote addresses, a presentation on one of the key facets of grant writing, ?Identifying & Composing the Pieces of the Research Grant Proposal;? and talks on negotiations, collaborations, mentoring and career development from successful senior and mid- career investigators. One of the most valued sessions from past workshop has been the mock study session, in which senior advisors with substantial experience on NIH study sections will conduct actual critiques on research proposals. The panel will review actual proposals that were highly ranked in peer review and those that were poorly ranked to more explicitly demonstrate ?Do?s? ?Don?ts? associated with grant writing.